Constructing a nervous system : a memoir
(Book)

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Contributors
Pantheon Books publisher.
Published
New York : Pantheon Books, 2022.
ISBN
9781524748173, 152474817X, 9780525565710, 052556571X
Status
Indian Prairie Public Library District - 1st Floor
305.896 JEFFERSON
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Published
New York : Pantheon Books, 2022.
Format
Book
Physical Desc
197 pages : illustration ; 20 cm
Language
English
ISBN
9781524748173, 152474817X, 9780525565710, 052556571X
UPC
40031213283

Notes

Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 189-195).
Description
"Stunning for her daring originality, the author of Negroland gives us what she calls "a temperamental autobiography," comprised of visceral, intimate fragments that fuse criticism and memoir. Margo Jefferson constructs a nervous system with pieces of different lengths and tone, conjoining arts writing (poem, song, performance) with life writing (history, psychology). The book's structure is determined by signal moments of her life, those that trouble her as well as those that thrill and restore. In this nervous system: The sounds of a black spinning disc of a 1950's jazz LP as intimate and instructive as a parent's voice. The muscles and movements of a ballerina, spliced with those of an Olympic runner: template for what a female body could be. Harriet Beecher Stowe's Topsy finds her way into the art of Kara Walker and the songs of Cécile McLorin Salvant. Bing Crosby and Ike Turner become alter egos. W.E.B. DuBois and George Eliot meet illicitly, as he appropriates lines from her story "The Hidden Veil" to write his famous "behind the veil" passages in The Souls of Black Folk. The words of multiple others (writers, singers, film characters, friends, family) act as prompts and as dialogue. The fragments of this brilliant book, while not neglecting family, race, and class, are informed by a kind of aesthetic drive: longing, ecstasy, or even acute ambivalence. Constructing a nervous system is Jefferson's relentlessly galvanizing mis en scene for unconventional storytelling as well as a platform for unexpected dramatis personae"--,Provided by publisher.

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Citations

APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)

Jefferson, M. (2022). Constructing a nervous system: a memoir (First edition.). Pantheon Books.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Jefferson, Margo, 1947-. 2022. Constructing a Nervous System: A Memoir. Pantheon Books.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Jefferson, Margo, 1947-. Constructing a Nervous System: A Memoir Pantheon Books, 2022.

MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)

Jefferson, Margo. Constructing a Nervous System: A Memoir First edition., Pantheon Books, 2022.

Note! Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy. Citation formats are based on standards as of August 2021.

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